Are grandparents required to provide free childcare as part of their grandparenting responsibilities?

The answer is 100% no, mostly because there is no such thing as «grandparenting responsibilities.»

While many parents wait for the day their kids finally make them grandparents, it’s safe to say they are not excited about all the duties they are going to have as grandparents. The fun part about grandchildren is usually that you get to spend time with them without being burdened by the responsibility aspect of it all. Grandparents are here for fun, not for commitments. 

That doesn’t mean that they don’t help. In fact, many young parents rely on the grandparents for assistance; that is what family is there for. But there is a big difference between asking for help and demanding it. When people start demanding help, they are much less likely to get it. Your parents don’t owe you help with your kids; they will provide it if they want to. Anything more than what they are willing to give is yours to figure out.

The family situation below is a tricky one, and it’s clear that one solution won’t be accepted by everyone, but still, a solution must be found. A grandparent was asked to babysit her two grandchildren during summer break, and after they initially agreed, the babysitting suddenly became free childcare. Even though the grandparent loves spending time with the kids, they don’t want to do it every single day, and definitely not for free. This led the grandparent to tell their daughter that they would be willing to babysit, but only if they got paid for it. This was not received well by the daughter, who felt that a grandparent has duties and responsibilities towards the family, including babysitting for free.

Should the grandparent get paid for the free babysitting, or should they simply set a boundary and start saying no to some babysitting requests?